Rob Pelinka

How Lakers’ New Five-Out Sets Will Unleash The Beast In Anthony Davis

October 13, 2023 By LakerTom 3 Comments

Darvin Ham’s new five-out sets will dramatically change how the Los Angeles Lakers play by making it easier to get the ball to Anthony Davis sooner, more often, and where he’ll have space and freedom to attack.

Strategically, five-out sets are positionless basketball since all five players begin behind the 3-point line, which makes it the perfect offensive scheme to accommodate Anthony Davis’ desire to play fewer minutes at center. Tactically, five-out sets give a trailing Anthony Davis the ball where he’s flanked by four 3-point shooters and has options to take a wide open three or beat his man 1-on-1 for an easy layup or dunk or drive-and-dish three.

Better shooters and five-out sets should give the Lakers a chance to reduce the negative 20–25 ppg 3-point shooting differential that forces them to dominate made-free-throws and points-in-the-paint to keep games close.
The Lakers will still run four-out sets when Jaxson Hayes plays beside Anthony Davis but five-out sets will require a stretch big, which is why there is a good chance Christian Wood could emerge as the fifth starter.

While it’s too early to judge the impact of new five-out sets, the Lakers are taking and making a lot more 3-point shots so far this preseason but also suffering a troubling decline in made free throws and points in the paint. The challenge for the Lakers in switching from four-out to five-out sets will be to reduce their negative 3-point scoring differential without impacting their positive made-free-throws and points-in-the-paint differentials.

Let’s listen first to Darvin Ham explain why he wants the Lakers to switch to five-out sets and then look at how the team’s new five-out sets unleash the beast in Anthony Davis and are the perfect fit for the rest of the team.

Why Darvin Ham Wants to Switch to Five-Out Sets

Darvin Ham is switching from four-out to five-out sets to take advantage of the Lakers’ improved 3-point shooting and accommodate Anthony Davis’ desire to play more power forward and less center during regular season.

Last season, the Lakers played four-out sets with four shooters behind the 3-point line and the fifth player in the dunker spot under the rim because they didn’t have enough proven good 3-point shooters to play five-out sets.
Four-out sets meant that Davis would either get the ball via a pick-and-roll play in the paint or by isolating him on the wing, where he would often be double-teamed. There were times teams could make AD disappear.

By switching to five-out sets, the Lakers can easily get the ball to Anthony Davis earlier in the shot clock, more often during the game, and in a spot where he can deliver the maximum damage as a scorer and playmaker.
The examples shown in the above video show how the five-out sets make it easier to get the ball to Davis with time, space, and freedom to attack the defense and how difficult it is to double him with shooters on the wings.

Darvin Ham has said he would like Anthony Davis to take three 3-point shots per half or six per game going forward. So far this preseason, AD has taken six threes and made three in 26.7 minutes in two preseason games. Last season, AD averaged 17.2 shot attempts and took 1.3 threes per game. While he’s only played limited minutes in two preseason games, Davis is on pace to increase his shot attempts to 22.6 and his threes to 8.0 per game.

Darvin Ham wants to run five-out sets because they are the quickest and easiest way to give Anthony Davis the increased floor spacing, freedom, touches, and shots he needs to become the very best version of himself.

How Five-Out Sets Unleash Beast in Anthony Davis

Darvin Ham and the Los Angeles Lakers smartly avoided the controversy over whether Anthony Davis plays center or power forward by adopting new five-out half court offensive sets that are essentially positionless.

Once Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office agreed to extend Anthony Davis to be the face of the franchise, Darvin Ham was given responsibility to upgrade the team’s offense to unleash the beast in Anthony Davis.
The result is a positionless five-out set where the AD has the ball at the top of the key, flanked left and right by 3-point shooters on the wing and corner that makes it easier to get AD the ball sooner and more often than before.

We’ve already seen in the two preseason games Anthony Davis has played how effective he is playing the top in the five-out sets. The big difference is how much easier it is to get the ball to him earlier in the 24-second clock. Once there’s no fast break opportunity, the point guard gives the ball to a trailing Davis via a dribble hand-off and he’s ready to shoot or attack at the top of the key with four shooters poised to keep help defenders honest.

Besides getting the ball earlier and more often, Anthony Davis will get an opportunity to be much more of a playmaker in these five-out sets as any help will immediately open up one of his teammates for an open three.
If there’s a weakness in Davis’ game, it’s he doesn’t have the playmaking chops that a Nikola Jokic has, having a career average of only 2.4 assists per game. With five-out sets, AD could have his first 4 assists per game season.

Darvin Ham’s new five-out sets are a major game changer in that they’re going to give Anthony Davis more touches and shots than he’s ever had as a Laker. Those opportunities should unleash the beast in Anthony Davis.

Why Five-Out Sets Are Perfect for Lakers’ Roster

The Lakers’ switch from four-out sets to five-out sets is not only going to unleash the beast in Anthony Davis but also the beasts in LeBron James, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and Christian Wood.

Make no mistake, thanks to the joint leadership and vision of Rob Pelinka and Darvin Ham, the Lakers finally have enough 3-point shooting to run the modern five-out sets that most of the NBA already successfully run.
The NBA today is a drive-and-dish league and the hardest teams to stop or slow down defensively are the teams loaded with dead-eye shooters who can rain threes or attack the paint to dish or score when challenged.

While five-outs are the ideal half-court offensive sets to unleash the beast in Anthony Davis, they’re also a perfect fit for players who can shoot the three ball and put the ball on the floor and get into the paint if challenged. Imagine LeBron James at the head of the five-out surrounded by four lethal 3-point shooters. Or Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, or Christian Wood. Near every Lakers players is a perfect fit for 5-out sets.

Frankly, the impact of the improved 3-point shooting and newly deployed five-out sets has already been easy to see in the Lakers’ three preseason games. Ham has also complemented the new sets with more off ball action. Watching Darvin and his coaching staff, who up to now had earned most of their praise for great progress in the player development area, starting to show their chops in the half court offense X’s and O’s is encouraging.

What we’ve been watching over the past year has been the evolution of a bold, new, modernized and sustainable championship-driven vision Rob Pelinka and Darvin Ham have embraced for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Four Principles That Guided Rob Pelinka’s Big Makeover Of The Lakers

September 17, 2023 By LakerTom 7 Comments

After disastrously trading for Russell Westbrook, Rob Pelinka’s pulled off a dramatic comeback by prioritizing fit, upside, tradability, and continuity to transform the Lakers from a lottery team to a championship contender.

The problem that’s haunted the Lakers the last three years was not that Pelinka didn’t know what the right moves to make were. He just didn’t have the will and resolve to stick to his principles. The last six months, he has. Every move Rob’s made from the last trade deadline through this offseason has been about putting together a deep and diverse roster with players who meet his four guiding principles of fit, upside, tradability, and continuity.

When you’re general manager of the Lakers, the pressure is intense not only to hit a homerun every time up but to hit a game-winning, grand-slam homerun. We saw how that worked when we traded for Russell Westbrook. Since then, however, Rob has been impressively patient and consistent. While there’ve been disappointments like Beasley’s inability to fit and Dlo’s and Vando’s playoff vulnerability, Rob’s essentially hit a grand-slam homer.

Pelinka’s grand makeover not only has elevated the Lakers to being one of the top six favorites to win the 2024 NBA Championship but also positioned them perfectly with a plethora of coveted players on tradable contracts. Pelinka may have some tough decisions to make come the trade deadline. Unless expectations are not met, the Lakers are more likely again to make moves to improve on the margins than to foolishly chase a third superstar.

Let’s take a closer look at how Rob Pelinka used fit, upside, tradability, and continuity as his guiding principles to build a deep, diverse rotation that transforms the Lakers from a lottery team to a championship contender.

1. Fit

The first personal quality Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office looked for when evaluating trade and free agency candidates was how they fit alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the rest of the team’s roster.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what it takes to fit alongside two superstars like James and Davis. Even the Lakers understand they need players who’ve proven they can be effective with and without the ball.
The other players on the court with LeBron and AD have to be able to make the inevitable open shots they’ll receive and do the small team-first things like passing, rebounding, and defending that championships require.

For the Lakers, the player who’s the best fit alongside James and Davis is Austin Reaves, the early favorite to win MIP next season after his breakout play for the Lakers in the playoffs and Team USA in the FIBA World Cup.
The Lakers’ priority was to avoid having to match a $100 million offer for Reaves, who’s a restricted free agent, which they were able to do by scaring off suiters and re-signing him to a below market 4-year $56 million deal.

Fit was also the clearly why the Lakers used their NT MLE to sign backup point guard Gabe Vincent to a 3-year $33 million deal and their BAE to sign backup small forward Taurean Prince to a 1-year $4.5 million contract.
Vincent and Prince were perfect examples of Pelinka smartly prioritizing fit in choosing whom to sign with his prized MLE and BAE. Like Reaves, both perfectly fit the 3&D model needed to optimize James and Davis.

Rob Pelinka and the Lakers learned their lesson with Russell Westbrook and prioritized fit as the first quality when choosing which players to bring back or sign to transform them from a lottery team to a title contender.

2. Upside

The second personal quality the Lakers prioritized in building their current roster is upside. Rather than surrounding James and Davis with older vets, Pelinka complemented his superstars solely with players in their twenties.

Amazingly, the average age of the 15 players Pelinka has surrounded James and Davis with is 23.9-years old. Even with 38-year old James and 30-year old Davis included, the average age of the Lakers is still just 25.1-years old.
The Lakers are the 15th youngest team in the league with greater upside than the Clippers, Bucks, 76ers, Warriors, Suns, Raptors, and Heat, the seven oldest teams in the league with average team ages over 27.0 years.

With a player development oriented coaching staff, L.A. is committed to surrounding James and Davis with young players who have the upside to grow, develop, and get better, especially playing with a star like LeBron. They’re parlaying their success with low risk, high reward players like Malik Monk, Lonnie Walker, and Dennis Schroder and hoping to strike gold again with projects Christian Wood, Cam Reddish, and Jaxson Hayes.

The Lakers have done a great job establishing themselves as the mecca for low risk, high reward players looking to redeem their games and revive their brands playing in the bright lights of Los Angeles with Bron and AD.
The Lakers see Wood’s upside as a potential starting center in a two-bigs lineup with Anthony Davis, Reddish’s ceiling as their long coveted starting small forward, and Hayes’ future as a dominant two-way backup center.

Pelinka’s transformation of the Lakers’ roster surrounding James and Davis to prioritize upside has been nothing short of a miracle. The Lakers clearly have greater roster upside than all the other championship contenders.

3. Tradability

Rob Pelinka’s third guiding principle in building a championship roster has been tradability, making sure that every player they sign or trade for not only possess a coveted NBA skillset but also has a team friendly contract.

Unlike last trade deadline, when the Lakers were desperate to trade Russell Westbrook, this Lakers’ roster has nothing but players whose games have solid value as well as untapped upside and contracts are easily tradable.
The Lakers may not have multiple first round picks to trade but they do have a plethora of quality trading chips in the form of solid talented young players who have legitimate NBA upsides and team friendly contracts.

How the Lakers do the first half of the season will determine what they do at the trade deadline. Chances are they will make moves to continue to upgrade the roster on the margins rather than trying to add a third star. Trading for a center like Myles Turner, a volume 3-point shooter like Gary Trent, Jr., or legitimate bigger 3&D starting wing like O.G. Anunoby would be more likely than a blockbuster deal for Trae Young or Zach LaVine.

How players perform the first half of year will also impact their tradability at the deadline. Most observers expect any trade the Lakers complete to include D’Angelo Russell, who waived his ‘no trade’ rights when re-signed.
Right now, Austin Reaves is probably untouchable as are LeBron James and Anthony Davis and Jarred Vanderbilt just signed a new 4-year $48 million contract, which gives him and the Lakers time to grow his game and value.

Besides enjoying a deep and diverse roster of players that can win games, the Lakers also have an impressive portfolio of tradable players to take full advantage of emerging opportunities to upgrade the roster at the deadline.

4. Continuity

Last but not least, Pelinka’s fourth guiding principle for upgrading the Lakers’ roster from lottery team to championship contender is continuity. The Lakers have committed to establishing continuity going forward.

L.A. returned seven players from last year’s team, extending Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell, and Jarred Vanderbilt and re-signing Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura to go along with LeBron James and Max Christie.
L.A. also signed five free agents in Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes, Cam Reddish, and Christian Wood and two draft picks in Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis for a total of seven new players.

That gave the Lakers an extremely deep and diverse 14-player roster, one roster spot that they will likely keep open for buyout candidate, and three rookie two-way players in Colin Castleton, D’Moi Hodge, and Alex Fudge.
7 players (Davis, Reaves, Hachimura, Vincent, Vanderbilt, Hood-Schifino, Lewis ) have long-term deals, 5 players (James, Russell, Wood, Reddish, Hayes) have 1+1 deals, and 2 players (Christie, Prince ) have 1-year deals.

Since winning their 17th NBA championship in the bubble in 2020, the Lakers got into the unfortunate habit of essentially turning over their entire roster every offseason and essentially killing any continuity.
With Pelinka committing the franchise to continuity, the Lakers can continue to build a dynamic and sustainable championship caliber roster with 9 to 12 young core players locked up in team-friendly contracts.

Overall, Pelinka’s fourth roster building guiding principle is continuity, which gives the Lakers a minimum of 8 and maximum of 14 players who could come back to defend their 18th and win their 19th championship.

How Lakers Can Play 12-Man Rotation And Give James And Davis ‘Rest’ Days

September 13, 2023 By LakerTom 3 Comments

With the signing of Christian Wood, the Lakers now have what could be the best 12-man rotation in the NBA if they can figure out how to get minutes for everybody and how to keep their older injury-prone superstars healthy.

While the NBA’s new Player Participation Policy has tightened rules about resting stars, the time’s come for the Lakers to embrace load management to keep LeBron James and Anthony Davis healthy and extend their careers.
Right now, the Lakers current roster is so deep and diverse the team has a unique opportunity to give all 12 legitimate rotation players viable minutes while also giving James, Davis, and other players well needed ‘rest’ games.

The Lakers’ problem is they have 12 legitimate rotation players but only enough minutes in any given game to realistically play 10 players. Luckily, having 12 quality rotation players is also an opportunity for the Lakers. Instead of settling for a 10-man rotation and turning 2 players into injury insurance, the Lakers should deploy an innovative 12-man rotation that ‘plays’ a different 10 players and ‘rests’ a different 2 players every game.

Having a 12-man rotation that allows the Lakers to rest 2 players every game while still putting a championship caliber lineup on the court should make the Lakers an even better and deeper team going into the playoffs. Because all their rotation players will have chances to play important minutes and some even to start games, their confidence, experience, and ability to play winning basketball should be dramatically improved.

Opportunity knock and the Lakers have the depth and diversity to answer. Their unorthodox 12-man rotation can both give the Lakers’ 12 rotation player needed minutes and their superstars and starters needed ‘rests.’

Lakers Projected Depth Chart

Here’s the Lakers’ projected depth chart for next season per the Athletic’s Jovan Buha with Russell, Reaves, Hachimura, James, and Davis starting and Vincent, Christie, Prince, Vanderbilt, and Wood as the primary backups:

The above depth chart easily translates into a 10-man rotation comprised of the 5 starters and 5 primary backups at each of the five positions. The big problem with this 10-man rotation is that it leaves out Reddish and Hayes.

Lakers Projected Rotation Minutes

Here are Buha’s projected minutes per game for the Lakers’ 10-man rotation that includes the five starters and primary backups but does not include Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, or the two rookie draft picks:

It’s easy to see from the above chart per player that the optimum Lakers rotation is probably 9 players as 4 minutes in each half for 8 minutes in a game is not enough for for Jarred Vanderbilt to get into any rhythm.

How 12-Man Rotation Would Work

Here is a basic guide as to how the Lakers’ 12-man rotation would work to give all 12 of the team’s legitimate rotation players viable minutes to play while allowing James, Davis, and other players to rest every 7th game.

The Lakers 12-man rotation is just a blueprint or guideline rather than a firm set of inviolable rules Darvin Ham and LeBron James and Anthony Davis have to follow when deciding who plays and rests for each game.

Basically, the Lakers need to narrow the rotation for each game to the 10 players for whom they have minutes by not playing 2 players, who could be players who are actually injured or players who are getting a ‘rest day.’
The only load management limitation is the Lakers cannot rest both James and Davis, their two players classified as ‘stars,’ in the same game or rest either of them in nationally televised or in-season tournament games.

For the Lakers’ 12-man rotation to achieve its goals of giving all 12 rotation players viable minutes while resting superstars, all 12 legitimate rotation players need to participate in and benefit from the ‘rest days’ program.
While the reasons for load managing James and Davis are most important, teams are learning more and more that embracing load management can help keep the entire team healthier with fewer and less severe injuries.

The NBA just came out with new rules and penalties for team’s resting star players during nationally televised games, of which the Laker have 28, or resting two stars, which L.A. has in James and Davis, in the same game.
The NBA will not require players who are older than 35 years old or have severe injury history to play in back-to-back games not nationally televised. Of the Lakers 15 back-to-back games, 11 have nationally televised games.

That means James could rest during the first game and Davis during the second game of 4 or the 15 back-to-backs. Both would have to play in the 11 televised back-to-backs but one star could rest in the non-televised game.
Here are some other numbers to consider. The regular season includes 82 games. Lakers have 28 nationally televised games where they cannot rest either James or Davis, leaving just 54 games where they could rest one star.

By deploying a 12-man rotation, the Lakers are essentially embracing load management and committing to the idea that you can ultimately get more games and minutes from your major players by strategically resting them.

Lakers 12-Man Rotation Is Winner

The Los Angeles Lakers are trying to have their cake and eat it too by building a team that can win at least one more championship before LeBron James retires but still be a title contender after he has gone.

Rob Pelinka and Darvin Ham essentially have the Lakers now perfectly positioned to potentially pull off that seemingly miraculous double win as this Lakers team is clearly the deepest since LeBron signed with L.A.
The key to the Lakers winning their 18th championship is still the health of superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis but the Lakers suddenly have the depth now to give both superstars a dozen rest days during the season.

While a 15% reduction in games played isn’t going to guarantee James and Davis will remain healthy, the Lakers would be dumb not to make whatever moves they can to smartly reduce their superstars’ minutes and workload. That can be done by giving them a dozen rest games and limiting them to under 30 minutes per game. The NBA’s new Player Participation Policy has now essentially legitimized the need for teams to load manage their stars.

Besides giving LeBron and AD smart opportunities to rest during a long regular season, playing a 12-man rotation should give the Lakers a chance to become a better team and earn a higher seed when the playoffs start.
For the Lakers, that could mean the difference between Cam Reddish and Jackson Hayes getting realistic opportunities to show they could be this season’s low risk, high reward players who rebuilt their brand in L.A.

Bottom line, spreading games and minutes between 12 legitimate rotation players would not only help the Lakers load manage their stars and players but also make them a better and stronger team heading into the playoffs.

Did Lakers Upgrade 3-Point Shooting Enough To Win 18th Championship?

August 12, 2023 By LakerTom 6 Comments

While the Lakers were able to get bigger, deeper, and better this offseason, the more important question is did they do enough to upgrade their league worst 3-point shooting to win their league best 18th NBA championship?

At last season’s trade deadline, the Lakers were averaging a league worst 10.5 made threes per game and shooting an NBA 25th worst 34.6% from deep. That’s when Rob Pelinka started his makeover of the Lakers’ roster.
He added Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt at deadline and Taurean Prince, Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and Maxwell Lewis this offseason.

Rob Pelinka was universally praised for the Lakers’ outstanding offseason as they continued building a team better tailored to fit 30-year old Anthony Davis’ championship window rather 38-year old LeBron James’ timeline. Rumors about the Lakers wanting to start Hayes at the five, Davis at the four, and James at the three have only exacerbated concern over the team’s spacing problems and raised more questions about their 3-point shooting.

The Lakers know the key to winning with LeBron James is surrounding him with elite 3-point shooters and defenders. The challenge is those are the exact same players every team in the league needs and is looking for.
The Lakers showed they could overcome poor 3-point shooting by winning the points-in-the-paint and made-free-throws battles. They have a legit shot this season to turn 3-point shooting from a disadvantage to an advantage.

So let’s look at whether Rob Pelinka and the Lakers did enough at the trade deadline and this offseason to upgrade their 3-point shooting performance to give them a legitimate chance to win their 18th NBA championship.

What Do The Numbers Say?

The numbers say the Lakers dramatically improved their 3-point shooting with savvy moves at last year’s trade deadline and may have done same this offseason with smart signings of their own and other team’s free agents.

At last season’s trade deadline, the Lakers’ 10.5 made threes per game ranked a dead last 30 of 30, their 31.2 attempted threes per game ranked a poor 26 of 30, and their 34.6% three-point percentage a dismal 25 of 30.
After the deadline, the Lakers addition of Russell, Beasley, Vanderbilt, and Hachimura and emergence of Reaves saw the Lakers jump to a 19th best 11.5 threes per game and a 16th best 36.1% from deep for those 26 games.

The above chart shows 3-point shooting stats of the Lakers 11 veterans for last year as well as projections for next year. While reasonable estimates, the numbers project the Lakers’ 3-point shooting will take another jump.
Th projection is the Lakers jump to 15 made threes on more than 40 attempts per game, which would put them in top-five in 3-point makes and takes. The resulting 37.1% would rank in lower half of the top-ten.

Heading into the next season, the Lakers have four players who are proven near 40% 3-point shooters in Reaves, Russell, Christie, and Prince plus two players who just shot over 40% in the playoffs in Hachimura and Vincent. That’s a solid core of six high percentage shooters who should transform the Lakers’ offense though they‘ll still need LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Jaxson Hayes to display better 3-point shot selection and accuracy.

While likely a best case scenario, the Lakers have a realistic chance to finish next season as one of the top-ten 3-point shooting teams in the league, making and taking 50% more threes than they did last season.

What Else Can The Lakers Do?

The most important thing the Lakers can do now to upgrade their 3-point shooting is use their remaining two roster spots on stretch bigs to balance their roster’s 3-point shooting. Signing Christian Wood should be priority.

Right now, the Lakers’ 3-point shooting strength is concentrated in their guards and small forwards. None of their front court players — Hachimura, Vanderbilt, James, Davis, or Hayes — are proven quality 3-point shooters. That’s why Christian Wood is such an attractive 14th player for the Lakers to add to their current roster. Wood’s a career 37.9 three-point shooter on 3.5 attempts per game who’s shot better than 37.4% for four straight seasons.

Adding Wood would also give the Lakers insurance against Anthony Davis missing games due to injuries, especially on the offensive end where L.A. does not have a center who can impact the game offensively if AD is out. Frankly, I think adding a player like Wood makes so much sense the Lakers should consider signing-and-trading for him to obtain his Bird rights and to be able to keep him long-term on a team friendly deal if he worked out.

The Lakers’ coaching staff’s biggest offseason challenge is going to be fixing the broken 3-point shooting strokes of power forwards LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt, and center Jaxson Hayes.
The Lakers are hopeful Rui Hachimura, who shot a league best 48.7% from deep on 2.4 three-point attempts per game in last season’s playoffs can turn into a consistent near 40% 3-point shooter regular season and playoffs.

The Lakers need to add one and preferably two stretch bigs to their roster so they can create realistic 5-player lineups with legitimate 3-point gravity. Lakers need stretch versions at both power forward and center positions.

Anthony Davis Needs To Play Power Forward To Unleash His Full Potential

August 10, 2023 By LakerTom 22 Comments

After signing superstar Anthony Davis to a 3-year $186 million extension that will lock him up for the next four or five years, the Lakers next move could be to move AD from center to power forward to unleash his game.

Anthony Davis has been extremely effective playing mostly center for the Lakers the past two seasons but the move has also resulted in a dramatic drop in the accuracy and efficiency of his midrange and 3-point shooting. During his first two years as a Laker playing mostly power forward, Davis shot 30.8% from deep (1.0 of 3.2 3PA per game). Playing mostly center the last two years, that percentage dropped to 22.2% (0.3 of 1.5 3PA per gam).

While critics use the reduced midrange and 3-point shooting stats as reasons why Davis should continue to play the five, playing center the last two years actually limited AD’s game and made it easier to defend him. Anthony Davis as a center totally changed his shot selection last season, almost eliminating mid-range and 3-point shot attempts for more shots in the paint and at the rim. That’s why his 3-point percentage plummeted.

Anthony Davis transition this past season from a three-level scorer to a low post scorer also exacerbated the Lakers serious spacing issues and made it easier for teams to pack the paint and force L.A. to shoot from outside. Going forward, the Lakers need both Davis and James to take and make threes like they did during their championship run in the bubble in 2020. Can’t win in today’s NBA with superstars who can’t take and make threes.

The Lakers need to move Anthony Davis back to power forward where he has more space and freedom to operate and he can get back to being the top-five, three-level, two-way superstar he was back in the bubble in 2020. Once LeBron James has retired, the last thing the Lakers want is for their alpha superstar to play a position that isn’t able to control the ball in space, which is why L.A.’s top priority is to shift Davis from center to forward.

Center is also not the position Anthony Davis wants to play nor the position he truly believe is best for him. Moving him to the four will give him more touches and space to help him bring back his midrange and 3-point games.

Why Anthony Davis Must Become Stretch Four

Frankly, if the Lakers seriously plan to revert back to the two-bigs lineups that helped them win their 17th NBA championship in the bubble, they will need Anthony Davis to regain his midrange and 3-point shooting touch.

Everything the Lakers do going forward, including playing two bigs, is all about optimizing Anthony Davis and giving him every possible opportunity to become the top five superstar for whom they traded four years ago. There’s an impression among jaded fans and analysts that AD’s ascent to greatness has stalled by inconsistency and injuries. There’s some truth in that but the Lakers believe playing center is partly responsible for delay.

There’s big push by old school critics that Davis should continue to play center and completely stop shooting long twos or threes. The Lakers should do the exact opposite and order Anthony to take at least 5 threes per game. That’s what coach Vogel did during the 2020 championship season when Davis shot 33.0% on 3.5 3PA per game. AD’s 3-point shooting peaked during the 2020 playoff run when he shot a sizzling 38.7% on 2.9 3PA per game.

The 3-point shot continues to dominate today’s NBA game and roles and opportunities for non-shooters continue to decline, which only points to the stupidity of asking a superstar like Anthony Davis to not shoot threes. Those who want to turn AD into a non-shooter don’t appreciate just how good and talented he was as a power forward and how that totally changed how the other four Lakers players around him played and interacted.

The Lakers will be looking to test two bigs with Anthony Davis at the four and either Jaxson Hayes or Christian Wood at the five during camp and preseason. Look for Anthony Davis to let it fly from midrange and deep. The Lakers want Anthony Davis to be their version of Kevin Durant, not their version of Joel Embiid. They want AD to get the same ball touches and shot opportunities that KD has been able to get by playing power forward.

Now that Anthony Davis is the official face of the franchise, the Lakers want to shine a spotlight on him and play him at the four where he’ll have the best opportunity to reach his ultimate potential as a superstar player.

What About LeBron James Defending Small Forwards?

The main criticism for why the Lakers should not play two bigs is that it forces LeBron James to move from power forward to small forward, which means he could be forced to chase quicker wing scorers around screens.

Of course, the counter to that argument is the problem James presents at the other end of the court. Unless we’re talking about another superstar, LeBron’s not going to lose many matchups regardless of how he defends. That’s the beauty of basketball. Every matchup has two sides and while a team could attack LeBron on defense, it’s doubtful they can take enough advantage of him on defense to counter the damage he’ll do on offense.

Basketball has also increasingly become positionless so it’s not always fives guarding fives, fours guarding fours, or threes guarding threes. Teams will cross-defend both in the front and backcourts to optimize their matchups. While Hayes or Wood may be the five, Davis the four, and James the three on offense, that doesn’t mean their going to defend their counterpart. There may be times when Hayes defends a four or Davis guards a three.

Sustainability is the long-term key for Los Angeles. The Lakers’ 5-year plan for Anthony Davis is for him to be a power forward in the Kevin Durant model at the offensive end rather than a center in the Joel Embiid model. Moving forward, the Lakers need the Anthony Davis to play power forward, where he will have the freedom and space, touches and shots to become the uber-athletic top-five offensive and defensive superstar they traded for.

Finally, the decision to play two bigs comes downs to a decision as to whether Anthony Davis or LeBron James gets to play their preferred positions. In light of the recent extension, the nod should go to Davis.
If Anthony Davis is going to be the face of the franchise, then he needs to play power forward where he will have more freedom and space playing inside and outside to get more touches and shots than playing center.

While having LeBron James guard small forwards and wings is not ideal, the Lakers are not overly worried about it because LeBron can still coast on defense and get more back on offense dominating other end of the court.